Ask An Expert

At Dognition, we believe that shared inquiry and discovery fuel the greatest benefits for dogs and their owners. Therefore we’ve partnered with the world’s leading canine cognition experts and canine-focused institutions/organizations.

Now, you also have the opportunity to inquire and learn from our experts.

We got Purdy about a month ago. All we know is that she was adopted out of shelter in Atlanta, and ended up in shelter in Boulder, Co where she was adopted by a family in Denver, from whom we got her. Somewhere along the line she got the label "fearful" and that she is. She has warmed up to my son in law and daughter (she likes men rather than women), but she looks at me with such fear that it is heart breaking. I have been a dog person since babyhood and I would no sooner hurt a dog then I would any other living creature. I can only assume some evil short fat granma has hurt and traumatized her. I am not sure of the best course of action here. I do not impose my self on her for fear of further traumatizing her. Is there anyway to lessen her fear? What should I be doing? She is such a sweet dog. By the way will I allow her to be put in another "shelter", she deserves better than that.

We got Purdy about a month ago. All we know is that she was adopted out of shelter in Atlanta, and ended up in shelter in Boulder, Co where she was adopted by a family in Denver, from whom we got her. Somewhere along the line she got the label "fearful" and that she is. She has warmed up to my son in law and daughter (she likes men rather than women), but she looks at me with such fear that it is heart breaking. I have been a dog person since babyhood and I would no sooner hurt a…

She is not an anxious dog, and appears self confident and self assured. After all, there are no more Lions left in our area of Connecticut. She feels she has done her job well.

I take her out to *** at least twice before I go to work. She has never consumed more than 4 cups of water per day, despite clean water in her bowl. She has toys to play with - balls with treats inside to play with. I m unable to get home when a thunderstorm is forecast.

My nearly year old Yorkie gets bored frequently. He gets at least 2 walks a day (1-3 miles each time), is taken outside numerous times daily, has tons of toys and a couple of brain games for dogs, gets playtime and trick training daily, and has bully sticks and slices to chew on. Since my husband and I are retired, he is not left alone very much. So if he is not engaged in these activities or napping, he goes in search of things to get into. (He is very good at that!) He also has a puppy friend close by whom he gets to play with frequently. Do you have any suggestions as to keeping him occupied? Is there such a thing as ADHD in dogs?

My nearly year old Yorkie gets bored frequently. He gets at least 2 walks a day (1-3 miles each time), is taken outside numerous times daily, has tons of toys and a couple of brain games for dogs, gets playtime and trick training daily, and has bully sticks and slices to chew on. Since my husband and I are retired, he is not left alone very much. So if he is not engaged in these activities or napping, he goes in search of things to get into. (He is very good at that!) He also has a puppy friend close…

Chester is a 6 year old F! Labradoodle we adopted from a rescue at 3 1/2. He appears to be dog-reactive and becomes semi-aggressive on walks when other dogs are nearby. We have tried all types of training and are wanting to make it a pleasant experience for him on walks, can you advise?

For training, my dogs respond to nothing but food. They NEVER play with toys so toy rewards are not an option. Yet other dogs do not respond to food as a reward and have to be rewarded in other ways during training. How can these games, which use food as the stimulus, apply to all dogs, whether they are food-driven or not?